Benchmade 737 Aileron Optimized for Two-Hand Opening

Benchmade just revealed the 737 Aileron, a new Black Class folding knife. Originally designed for airline pilots, the Aileron is designed to be opened with a specific two-hand deployment method.

Designer Steve Tarani, an weapons expert with experience training diverse groups of specialists, came up with the Aileron for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). Their requests for a durable, reliable tool that would fit the needs of commercial and military pilots led to the Aileron’s unusual design. Although it has an opening hole cutout in the blade, Tarani intends for it to be opened with two hands. A checkered pattern has been laser etched into the flats of the blade for this purpose. In deployment, users grip the handle with their dominant hand, and the textured blade with their off hand, snapping the knife open in a prepared defensive state.

The deployment method and intended application are unusual, but the look and general function of the Aileron will be familiar to any user of modern tactical knives. Its bowed handle is made from G-10 scales over stainless steel liners, with scallops, grooves, and chamfering all around. The recently-revealed SOCP Folder saw Benchmade breaking away from the Axis Lock, but the ambidextrous mechanism is back on the Aileron. The knife will be outfitted with the deep carry clip implemented on knives like the Contego. Although the Aileron was designed for pilots and other airborne users, like many Black Class models it can easily make the transition from tactical to practical. The unusually wide blade (in the now-expected Benchmade S30V) can be had coated with a combination edge or in a satin finish with a plain edge.

The Benchmade Black Class may not be the first product line customers think of when they see the butterfly logo, but it has been getting a lot of love lately. Before the debut of the Aileron we saw the SOCP Folder, the Vallation, and the Tactical Triage late last year.

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